Chapter 1222
The dark garment covering Derus Robert was sliced open in a jagged line, and crimson blood sprayed from his torso.
"Guh..."
Derus Robert’s mouth quivered, and deep vertical lines etched into his brow as if he had been struck by an impossible reality.
"I warned you, didn't I?"
Raon offered a frigid smirk, flicking the Divine Sword held in his right hand.
"That I was capable of this."
Had he remained within the walls of Zieghart, no amount of mentorship from Glenn could have enabled him to land a clean blow on Derus Robert. An abyss wider than the greatest sea had always existed between that villain and himself.
'But because I ventured here, I managed to construct a vessel strong enough to traverse that ocean.'
With the Ring of Fire attaining ten rings, his entire martial foundation had undergone a massive transformation. His understanding of the sword had ascended, his physical frame had hardened, and his mental fortitude had expanded to an incomparable degree.
While a towering barrier still stood between him and Derus Robert, the ten rings provided him the strength to finally leave gouges upon that massive wall.
"Hmph. Not incompetent."
Glenn gave a stoic nod, as if the display of swordsmanship had been merely adequate. However, the faint flush on his earlobes betrayed his deep internal pride.
"It is because of your guidance, Grandfather."
Raon offered a shallow bow toward Glenn.
"I could never have wounded that man on my own."
Derus Robert was a titan whose martial reach approached even that of Glenn. Even with his recent ascension, Raon could not have dealt a significant blow while his new powers were still settling. The fact that he had sliced Derus Robert’s chest was only possible because Glenn had carved a path using the very same Azure Sky Sword.
"Is... is that how it is?"
Glenn lingered on the taste of those words, clearly savoring Raon’s acknowledgment.
-Good grief, this old fool cannot hide his doting nature even in the heat of battle!
Wrath exhaled a heavy breath, expressing that such behavior was beyond annoying and bordering on the absurd.
"Hehehehe."
Derus Robert used his palm to crudely smear the blood leaking from his chest and let out a dry laugh.
"I had heard rumors that the Destructive King of the North’s affection for his progeny was obsessive, but this surpasses my imagination!"
He nodded slowly, remarking on how startling it was that Glenn had even permitted Raon to participate in missions outside their territory.
"It makes the desire to extinguish your life even more enticing!"
Derus Robert’s eyes flashed with a murderous glint as he dug his nails into the laceration on his chest. His mouth twitched with the hunger of a predator; he seemed consumed by a cocktail of fury and dark machinations.
'That monster...'
Raon felt a slight tremor in his frame, sensing the raw malice and lethal intent radiating from Derus Robert’s gaze.
'He's losing his composure.'
Derus Robert was typically a man of such frigid calculation that he seemed devoid of human feeling. Yet, following the demise of Archangel Raphael, the fall of Heaven, and the exposure of this secret base, his mental grip appeared to be fracturing.
'This is the moment.'
Though Derus Robert tried to mask it, his rationality was slipping into a violent frenzy. If Raon could deliver one more devastating strike now, they could secure a total triumph in this conflict.
"Grandfather!"
Raon shifted his focus to Glenn, tightening his grip on the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, which felt as though they had gained a new weight of purpose.
"I am aware. But we must exercise even greater caution when the enemy falters."
Glenn shared his assessment but narrowed his eyes, warning Raon not to be lured into a trap by Derus Robert’s erratic behavior.
"Understood. I will remain vigilant."
Raon gave a firm nod, synchronizing the ten rings of fire and pushing his internal energy to its absolute limit.
"Sssss."
Glenn straightened his posture, summoning the zenith of the martial power he could currently manifest.
"I shall take the vanguard. Seize the opening once more."
The moment the words left his lips, Glenn lunged toward Derus Robert. Crimson bolts of electricity erupted from Glenn’s Heavenly Tremor, shattering the heavy stone ceiling and piercing the heavens.
The sky groaned as if the firmament were cracking, raining down even more intense red lightning that bathed Derus Robert’s shadow-drenched lair in a bloody hue. This was the pinnacle of the Celestial Thunder Arts: Ten Thousand Enemy Lightning.
"Ugh!"
Perhaps hampered by his wound, Derus Robert chose not to meet the terrifying force of the Celestial Thunder Arts head-on. Instead, he angled his blade, attempting to parry the descending bolts.
'Now...'
Raon tracked the rhythm of the swordplay Glenn had initiated and propelled himself off the lightning-scorched earth. He sprinted toward Derus Robert, the Divine Sword poised high and the Demonic Sword held low.
'Using the same Celestial Thunder Arts!'
Once again, Glenn had cleared a trajectory to strike Derus, making it ideal to employ the same style to harmonize with the momentum.
"Begone!"
Derus Robert unleashed a sword strike heavy with the freezing essence of death, but the shimmering barrier of lightning Glenn had erected intercepted the blade.
Raon surged through the corridor of electricity Glenn had provided, aiming his thrust at the left side of Derus Robert’s torso, where the gash was most severe. The Supreme Harmony Steps, infused with red sparks, granted him a velocity that startled even himself.
"What?"
As Derus Robert’s eyes widened at the sudden speed, Raon inverted the positions of his two blades in a symmetrical motion and struck. It was the ultimate maneuver of the Celestial Thunder Arts: Nine Palace Assault. He had adapted the technique—traditionally a single-sword move—to strike simultaneously at Derus Robert’s throat and heart.
"Swift, certainly. However..."
The contorted expression on Derus Robert’s face suddenly smoothed out. The fury in his eyes dissolved like mist, replaced by a terrifyingly cold clarity.
"It is insufficient!"
As if he had orchestrated this exact sequence, Derus Robert ignored the lightning crashing against his back and lunged his black, flickering blade toward Raon’s heart.
'It can't be...'
Raon’s teeth ground together as he watched the enemy's steel approach with the sinuous grace of a serpent.
'The rage was a facade?'
He was familiar with how Derus Robert acted when truly provoked. The villain had put on a convincing display of losing his mind just moments ago, but in truth, he had been shielding a frozen logic behind the mask of anger.
Furthermore, the jagged wound on Derus Robert’s chest ceased its bleeding instantly and began to close. Even the lingering damage Raon had inflicted seemed to have been a calculated piece of theater.
'He intends to absorb both my strike and Grandfather's blow with his own flesh just to finish me.'
Derus Robert appeared willing to rely on his reinforced physique, indomitable spirit, and supernatural healing to weather the initial onslaught, all to ensure a fatal counter-strike.
'Fine.'
Raon steeled his resolve and accelerated the Ring of Fire.
'I will gamble my life as well!'
Retreating now would only mean being cut down while his back was turned. In such a dire bottleneck, the only way out was forward. Raon dug his toes into the dirt and funneled every ounce of his physical and spiritual essence into his twin blades.
He carved brutal paths through Derus’s shoulder and hip using the Nine Palace Assault, striking from both high and low trajectories.
The injuries were severe enough that the man's torso should have been severed, but the foul aura of death clinging to the villain’s skin prevented a killing blow.
"My turn now."
Derus Robert let out a ghastly chuckle, seemingly indifferent to the pain, and drove his sword toward Raon’s chest.
"Not quite yet."
Raon took another step inward. At a range so close he could smell the rot of death emanating from Derus Robert, he surrendered his grip on the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, which had been in switched positions since the start.
"You've lost your mind!"
Derus Robert gasped, shocked by the suicidal audacity of the charge. The moment the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword left Raon's hands, they began to spin violently, radiating a blinding brilliance.
He was executing dual Sword Controls simultaneously. The peak of Divine-Demonic Harmony, the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, collided with Derus Robert’s death-laden blade.
The flame of mortality and the sword forged from celestial light crashed together, warping the very environment. The subterranean space where Derus had hidden collapsed further into the earth. Dark vapors swirled everywhere, and upon the cracked ground where magma bubbled, the three combatants stood, breathing heavily in the colored mist.
"Haa... haa..."
Raon wiped the blood from his mouth and looked toward Glenn on his right.
"My thanks, Grandfather."
Even with the power of the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, he had nearly been overwhelmed by Derus's strike. His ribs had been on the verge of shattering, but Glenn’s lightning-imbued sword had intervened just in time to save him. He was covered in lacerations from the deathly energy, but he had avoided a lethal puncture.
"...This is precisely why I cautioned you."
Glenn scowled while stretching his left wrist. His face was set in a hard line, clearly displeased with the turn of events.
"I apologize. I was certain he had lost his mental grip."
Raon bit his lip, staring at a Derus Robert who now looked more composed than ever.
"I was close to it."
Derus Robert gave a measured nod.
"But I do not dwell in that state forever. Much like you, Raon."
He wore a thin, cruel smile, confirming he had feigned madness specifically to bait the youth.
"How regrettable. Had I ended you just then, your grandfather would have crumbled shortly after."
Derus Robert tapped his fingers together, feigning disappointment at the missed opportunity.
"Though, the final conclusion will remain unchanged."
His lips curled, signaling he had returned entirely to his cold, calculating self.
'Wait...'
Raon focused his eyes on the gashes on Derus Robert’s torso, shoulder, and hip.
'The injuries are mending instantly.'
Without the aid of restoration spells, and using only his deathly aura to hold the flesh together, the sword marks were being erased before their eyes.
'No, it's not just healing. They are vanishing.'
It looked as though the very flow of time was being undone for those specific wounds. It was a tier of regeneration Raon had never witnessed.
-That creature has truly abandoned his humanity.
Wrath clicked his tongue in genuine shock.
-But it carries a price. His internal energy has visibly depleted.
The demon rubbed his chin, noting that the death aura had been heavily consumed to fuel that specific recovery.
"Do not be startled."
Glenn spoke with a steady voice, shaking his head.
"Gifts of that nature require a massive expenditure of power."
He observed that Derus Robert had burned through a significant portion of his reserves, much like Wrath had suggested.
"Correct. However..."
Derus Robert gestured with his chin toward the two Ziegharts.
"Within these walls, my strength is inexhaustible. Every inch of this place is saturated with the aura of death."
He ran a hand through the dark fog swirling at his feet and grinned.
"Glenn Zieghart. Perhaps it is time to stop holding back?"
Derus Robert pointed a finger at Glenn.
"You might find yourself burying your grandson because you were too busy hoarding your strength."
He mocked Glenn, daring him to stop concealing his true martial depth and unleash everything he had.
"You realize you only survived by a hair's breadth."
Derus Robert closed his fist, reminding them that without Glenn’s preemptive lightning, Raon would be a corpse.
"Hmm..."
Glenn remained silent, his brow furrowed as if the taunt had hit a mark he couldn't easily dismiss. He tightened his grip on Heavenly Tremor, appearing deeply conflicted.
"......"
Raon watched the exchange, his mind racing.
'Why is he trying so hard to force Grandfather to use his full power?'
If Glenn unleashed his true martial zenith, Derus Robert would have no escape. It made no sense to provoke an opponent into a state that would ensure your own defeat.
'Because he can regenerate? No, even that wouldn't stop a true Soul Sword... Ah!'
Raon's breath hitched as he scanned the architecture and the floor, both pulsing with the energy of the grave.
'Now I see it.'
Derus Robert's true goal is...
